1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to frozen product vending machines and, more particularly, to an improved frozen product vending machine having a glass front which provides the customer the opportunity to view the actual product they wish to purchase, while ensuring the maintenance of a frozen storage environment and utilizing a product conveyor system which reliably delivers a larger selection of frozen products to the customer than has been available in the past. The present invention also provides a method and kit for modifying existing vending machines into the frozen vending machine described herein.
2. Description of the Background
Frozen product vending machines are typically configured with an outer casing having a hinged front access door, a hinged inner barrier door, and a refrigerated inner section behind the barrier door containing a series of conveyors which carry frozen product and deliver the same to a particular opening in the access door for retrieval by a consumer. However, the methods in which the products are displayed to the consumer and the details of how the products are carried through the machine to the consumer vary widely.
Many frozen vending machines in the past have offered the consumer only a graphical depiction of the product they wish to purchase on a front access panel of the machine. The consumer inserts their coin into the machine and presses one of three selection buttons, in turn powering an electric motor to drive a vertical conveyor system just behind the panel depicting their desired product. The consumer then lifts the access panel, revealing the conveyor system, and slides their desired product out from between the panels of the vertical conveyor. Not only have these machines in the past resulted in excessive heat exchange both in reloading product and in operation by the consumer, but the consumer is often disappointed when the product they receive is either not quite as appealing as, or altogether different from, the one depicted on the access panel graphic.
Many current non-frozen product vending machines incorporate a glass front. The incorporation of a glass front in these machines vastly improved the commercial potential of standard vending machines, allowing consumers to view the products which they wished to purchase, thus ensuring confidence in the consumer that they were purchasing exactly what they thought they were purchasing. However, attempts to incorporate a glass front into frozen product vending machines have been less successful due to the need for maintaining a frozen environment behind a panel having a high rate of heat transfer.
More recent frozen product vending machines have attempted to incorporate a glass front to allow customers to view the products therein. However, such devices utilize traditional, horizontal, spiral product delivery mechanisms which make the preservation of a frozen environment difficult at best. The spiral product delivery mechanism requires that new product be placed in a precise orientation for proper machine operation and product delivery, thus increasing the amount of time it takes a delivery person to refill the machine with product. This additional period of heat exchange results in the melting and disconfiguration of the frozen product, and can even result in product spoilage. Further, the driving motors for the spiral product delivery mechanism are positioned inside of the frozen area, creating a harsh operating environment for the driving motors and an associated decrease in motor life and reliability. Likewise, the 22 gauge wire typically used to interconnect the motors with the electrical control system become brittle inside of the frozen compartment and are easily broken.
Other frozen vending machines display a non-saleable, artificial replica of the frozen products vended by the machine. After viewing the artificial products, a customer makes their selection by depressing the appropriate selection button, and a robotically controlled vacuum device retrieves the actual product from a chest freezer. In this configuration, the customer again is unable to view the actual product which they wish to purchase.
Both the spiral product delivery machines and the robotically controlled vacuum machines are complicated devices, the complexity of which vastly adds to the expense of these systems and increases the need for machine mechanics with more advanced technological skills, even for simple maintenance and troubleshooting.
Still other vending machines exist which vend other refrigerated products such as milk, soda, etc. Unfortunately, to date, no easy method exists of converting these machines into a more profitable frozen product vending machine. Thus, the typical vending machine owner of older or less profitable machines who desires to reap the profit potential of a frozen product vending machine is faced with either removing the machine from operation and losing the related income, or replacing the machine with a new vendor at large expense.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide an improved frozen product vending machine which could securely maintain a frozen environment for storing the product while enabling the consumer to view the actual product they wish to purchase. It would also be advantageous to provide a kit and method for converting existing, unprofitable vending machines into a profitable frozen product vending machine using little technical expertise and little expense for upgrading and modifying components.